Things to do in Lesser Poland

Pay your respects at the site of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp. Make use of transportation from Krakow, and take a guided tour of the historical landmark. Benefit from pick-up at your accommodation in Krakow, and journey by air-conditioned vehicle to Oświęcim. Enter the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum for a 3.5-hour guided tour of the former Nazi concentration camps.  Hear how 1.3 million Jews, along with prisoners from Poland, France and Italy were murdered there during World War II. See the infamous "Arbeit Macht Frei" gate and learn the origins of the camp and what life was like for the prisoners. Visit the original barracks and gas chambers, along with platforms and other sites, and take a poignant trip through history via period photos and personal artifacts that bring the past to life.

Explore Zakopane on a guided tour including round-trip transportation from Krakow. Experience the healing waters of hot thermal springs and in a spa complex, ride a cable car to the top of Gubałówka Mountain, and enjoy a cheese and alcohol tasting. Start with a pickup from your hotel, apartment, or another place of your choice in Krakow. From there the duration of the transport from Krakow to Zakopane is approximately 2 hours. About 20 minutes from Zakopane is the town of Chochołów. Chochołów is famous for its wooden houses that look almost identical. The settlers traditionally wash the wooden walls of the buildings with soap and water, which happens twice a year before Christmas and Easter. Thanks to this cleaning, long-standing buildings look brand new. The village is inscribed on the World Heritage List. Visit the shepherd's hut (cheese factory) where highlanders produce smoked sheep's cheese traditional to the region of Poland. Taste some of the local cheese called Oscypek, and learn about the history of its production. Arrive in Zakopane, the capital of the Polish mountains. Each year, this place attracts many tourists who want to experience the unique style of Górlaskie culture, which is expressed through architecture, food, music, style of speech, and clothing. In the town center lies Krupówki Street. Enjoy time for independent exploration and lunch (not included). This street is the market square of Zakopane, where you can find souvenir shops and many restaurants that serve local food. Zakopane also boasts cable car access. Hop on a cable car and take in views of the Polish Tatra Mountains from the top of Gubałówka Mountain. After exploring Zakopane and the surrounding area, your driver will take you to the Chochołow Thermal Pools. Once there, relax and feel the healing properties of thermal water. After your visit, your driver will take you to your drop-off location in Krakow.

Enjoy an exciting tour from Krakow that includes visits to the memorial sites of Auschwitz and Birkenau, then continue your excursion with a visit to the salt mines. This 11-hour tour starts in the morning from a meeting point or with a convenient pickup in Krakow. From here you will be transported by a comfortable bus. During the tour, you will be accompanied by your experienced tour leader. Upon arrival at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum, you will begin your tour with a professional guide who will introduce you to the history of the memorial sites. The next point of the trip will be the Wieliczka Salt Mine, where a local guide will tell you all about the history of the mine. You'll see amazing chambers, original sculptures, and authentic miners' workplaces. There will be a break for lunch on the full-day tour, but it is recommended that you bring snacks with you. The tour will finish in the evening around 8:00 PM.

Step into history with a visit to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. Learn about the tragic history of the largest Holocaust concentration camp from your guide. Be picked up from the comfort of your accommodation in Krakow and board a comfortable bus for the 1.5-hour trip to the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp complex, a historic site that serves as an important Holocaust memorial.  Explore the museum in the outskirts of Oświęcim, approximately 60 kilometers west of Krakow. Upon arrival, meet a local guide who will show you around the site and tell you about its inhuman history. Find out how Auschwitz-Birkenau has become both a symbol of human suffering and a witness to physical and emotional exhaustion. Hear about how it became the final resting place of millions of people, mostly Jews, that were sentenced to death in hideous gas chambers.  Walk through the gate marked "Arbeit Macht Frei" (work frees) to enter Auschwitz 1, where your guide will show you around the preserved area and introduce the history of the place. Spend approximately an hour in Birkenau, where the mass killings as part of the Nazi "Final Solution to the Jewish Question" took place. After the visit, you can reflect on the experience during the ride back to Krakow. 

Visit Auschwitz on a day trip from Krakow. Learn about the history of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps during a guided tour with a certified historian and guide. Auschwitz-Birkenau was founded in 1940 by Nazi Germany and was the largest concentration camp operated by the Nazis. It became the final resting place for millions of people, mostly Jews and Poles, who were murdered in gas chambers. Pass through the gate with the inscription "Arbeit macht frei" to enter Auschwitz I, where your guide will show you around the preserved area and explain the history of the site.  Then, visit the second camp at Birkenau, where mass killings took place as part of the Nazi "Final Solution to the Jewish Question."

Explore the famous Wieliczka Salt Mine on a guided tour from Krakow or choose to meet in Wieliczka. Walk the labyrinthine passages, marvel at the chapels and chambers, and be wowed by the statues and art installations of the mine. Let your guide take you down winding corridors and into salt caves. Enjoy transportation from Krakow or choose to meet in Wieliczka, then descend 800 stairs to a depth of 135 meters to enter what feels like an underground salt city. Be awed by chambers of salt sculptures, art exhibitions, and old machinery from the days when it was a functioning salt mine. See how salt was extracted as you learn about the space's history from your guide. Pause to listen to the unique acoustic properties which come from the nature of the space. Hear how Chopin sounds in this environment, accompanied by spectacular underground lighting. Learn about the health properties of the salt mine as you tour its multiple chambers. At the conclusion of your experience, head back to the vehicle for transportation back to Krakow.

Discover the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Wieliczka Salt Mine with this entry ticket. Uncover the highlights of this massive salt mining complex on a guided tour. Reach a depth of 135 meters below the surface of the mine.  Choose from a tour with or without transportation from Krakow and have the option to pick a tour with a private transportation service. Breeze past long lines with a skip-the-line ticket to this popular attraction.  Discover the wonders of a salt mine on this guided visit. Starts with a descent down the stairs to a depth of 64 meters. Expereince the micro-climate of the mine which is thought to have a beneficial impact on visitors who suffer from asthma and allergies. Be led through a number of chambers and see underground lakes, shrines, and monuments carved from salt. Pass thorugh through numerous drifts and galleries where evidence of mining activity has been preserved. See examples of sacred art and themed compositions relating to the history of the mine and legends surrounding it. Wieliczka is also home to the world's largest mining heritage museum, with a collection of unique pieces of mining equipment from the Middle Ages. The tour ends at a level that’s 135 meters below the surface. Return to the surface by elevator.

Depart Krakow and journey to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum to explore the largest concentration camp in Poland built by the Nazis. Benefit from the services of a professional guide as you take a poignant tour of both the Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II labor camps. Get a short break for lunch on arrival, and then get shown around Auschwitz I to see the infamous Arbeit Macht Frei sign and some of the administration buildings where the horrors were planned. Look inside the gas chamber where the Nazis committed their hideous genocide, and see personal artifacts belonging to inmates at exhibitions dedicated to their memory. Benefit from a short 15-minute break before going to the Birkenau camp for a 1-hour guided tour. Discover where the prisoners entered the camp and the wooden barracks where they were forced to live. Return to Krakow with your thoughts and get dropped off at a place of your choice in the Old Town or Old Jewish Quarter.

Journey back to the dark days of World War II and learn the inspiring story of Oskar Schindler at Oskar Schindler's Factory Museum. Enter a modern museum devoted to the wartime experiences of the 5-year Nazi occupation of Poland during World War II. Located in the former enamel factory of the industrialist who famously saved the lives of over 1,000 people during the Holocaust, the site and story were brought into the limelight by Steven Spielberg's 1993 Oscar-winning movie "Schindler's List." Still on the site of the original administrative building of the factory on Lipowa Street, the museum tells the individual histories of Kraków's wartime inhabitants, the fate of the Jews and the city’s underground resistance to the Nazi occupation. See archival documents and photographs of the time, and listen to radio and film recordings that bring the story to life. Admire period artifacts and marvel at the dynamic multimedia installations in the museum.

Explore the Tatra mountains on a private or group day trip from Krakow with hotel transfers and a guide. Explore Chocholow, a living museum of historical wooden buildings, and try regional cheese and alcohol. Ride the Gubałówka funicular, explore Zakopane on your own, and relax in a thermal bath. After pickup from Krakow, drive to the village of Chocholow to see the best examples of Goral wooden houses and learn about this characteristic wooden building style. Afterward, try regional treats, including oscypek cheese and local alcohol in a traditional shepherd's hut called Bacówka. Next, take the cable car from Zakopane to Gubałówka, the most famous peak of the Polish Tatra Mountains. In just 3.5 minutes, get to a height of 1122 m above sea level. From the top, enjoy a panorama of Zakopane and the Tatra Mountains. On your descent, enjoy free time on Krupowki, Zakopane’s most famous street. Find local shops with products from the Podhale region. You can buy jewelry (including brooches in the typical heart-shaped “parzenica” pattern), clothes made of wool and leather, and intricately carved wooden souvenirs. Finally, unwind at Chocholow Thermal Baths where 14 pool basins, over 300 meters of water slides, saline pools, geysers, water cannons, and jacuzzis await you. Relax with a gorgeous view of the High Tatras. In the end, be driven back to your hotel in Krakow.